1
as in cheese
that which is of low quality or worth
couldn't believe that such junk was chosen to be read for the book club my car is junk—it spends more time in the shop than on the road
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in garbage
discarded or useless material
junk on the side of the road waiting for the trash collection
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to dump
to get rid of as useless or unwanted
we'll have to junk this old car
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of junk
Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 20 May 2025
Drugs are a given, and Roberta has built up a pretty serious junk habit, but, this being Italy, the radical left is at its height, and many women have connections to the Brigate Rosse, one of the many outlaw European outfits of the time carrying out robberies, kidnappings and sabotage.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 20 May 2025
Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024
This episode of What’s Ahead makes the case for junking the tax code and replacing it with a simple, single-rate system: the flat tax.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for junk
Noun
Attention should also be given to junk in orbit about or on the surfaces of other bodies in the solar system, however.
—Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 20 May 2025
Drugs are a given, and Roberta has built up a pretty serious junk habit, but, this being Italy, the radical left is at its height, and many women have connections to the Brigate Rosse, one of the many outlaw European outfits of the time carrying out robberies, kidnappings and sabotage.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 20 May 2025
Verb
EVs are so new to the market that few have been junked—and even those are often snapped up for uses such as off-grid power storage.
—Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024
This episode of What’s Ahead makes the case for junking the tax code and replacing it with a simple, single-rate system: the flat tax.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for junk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for junk
Noun
-
Add the shredded cheese towards the end to help prevent the cheese from breaking.—
Jasmine Smith,
Southern Living,
1 June 2025
-
This week, the pizzeria is phasing out springtime asparagus, introducing a juicy corn topping with poblano chile, red onion, cilantro, lime and three cheeses on one pie.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
Duluth, Minnesota, has installed effective and unobtrusive signs at each beach entrance next to a garbage receptacle.—
John Michael Pierobon,
Sun Sentinel,
25 May 2025
-
Allegiance The Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, regroups on the garbage planet Anoat, while Finn and Poe go on a secret mission to retrieve a weapons cache to increase their dwindling arsenal.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
25 May 2025
Verb
-
Off the northwestern coast of Africa, scientists aboard a research vessel pulled up the trawling net and dumped their catch onto the deck.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
23 May 2025
-
Tracking collared bears revealed that bears were being lured into traffic danger by a roadside pit where the Ministry of Transportation was dumping roadkill.—
Lesley Evans Ogden,
Smithsonian Magazine,
23 May 2025
Noun
-
And oftentimes, these cheap items end up as rubbish.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2025
-
This never got past the drawing board stage, but the idea kept cropping up again and again with many variations on a circular shape and performance that spanned from interesting to rubbish.—
David Szondy,
New Atlas,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Fortunately, the lighter rainfall levels have decreased the risk of a debris flow taking place in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn scars, a possibility forecasters warned of Monday.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
-
Remove brush and debris piles from around the home.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 June 2025
Verb
-
The first-stage booster that had been tapped during the original attempts was discarded for a new booster.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 May 2025
-
Disposable paper dresses enjoyed a brief vogue in the turbulent late 1960s, when young people literally wore their politics and interests on their sleeves—but were prepared to discard them as easily as a piece of Kleenex.—
Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 May 2025
Noun
-
For such a staunch advocate of pop trash, Cocker is surprisingly tuned out from modern radio.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
23 May 2025
-
Despite months of neighborhood opposition, a trash truck depot will indeed move forward on Randolph Avenue in St. Paul.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
23 May 2025
Noun
-
And those planets had access to plenty of fresh water—water that had several routes to reach them, from comet and asteroid impacts to icy dust being imprisoned within the planets as they were being built.—
Robin George Andrews,
Smithsonian Magazine,
30 May 2025
-
Thunderstorms could affect Arizona late Sunday and into Monday, and some gusty winds could contribute to blowing dust.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 May 2025
Video
Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"
Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk
Cite this Entry
“Junk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/junk. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share